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.

When You Just Make it Work

I love January....and I sort of hate it. 

I love the newness and the opportunity for fresh beginnings and all of the wonderfulness that a New Year brings. Conversely, I am not a fan of that special south-central Texas mountain cedar pollen that ebbs and flows with the battles between artic fronts that move in from the north and gulf winds from the south that bring us 75 degrees in January. This season, unfortunately, dictates my social schedule from mid-late December until almost early March. 

This weekend, I am sad to report the score as Allergies-1, Kara-0. 

J and I had planned a hike at a new park and couldn't wait to check out this local nature refuge that boasts over 20 miles of trails! Score!

Sunday morning, my swollen eyes and runny nose said our plans needed to change. As Jason can attest, I do not take too kindly to my plans being changed last minute, especially when it is something I am so very passionate about doing. So when my stubborn self concocted an alternative plan, he knew talking me out of it would have been fruitless, regardless of the shape I was in.

We are happy to report it worked out pretty well.

We decided that while my nose could not handle being out in the middle of the woods for a few hours, it could handle hanging out in the car with brief stops to scope out the area. So we grabbed the trail map, my camera, and a box of tissues. A fifteen-minute drive landed us at a local lake that is home to the Ft. Worth Nature Center and Refuge.

It never ceases to amaze me how we can be native to an area and 40 years in and still discover new places to explore!

We drove to the suggested, a-hem, "parking lot" for the trailhead we wanted to check out and quickly realized our sweet little Nissan Altima is not really suited for the outdoor life as we maneuvered into a "parking spot" and crawled out of the car. 

We also were not prepared to see this sign as we started to poke around and figure this place out. 

See, isn't adventure fun? 

On the other side of the fence was the firearms prohibited sign which leaves me wondering what the suggested form of alligator protection would be in a situation should it be necessary. 

Hmmm.....

Nevertheless, my sense of intrigue took over, runny nose and all, and we wandered a little further down the trail than Jason would have liked...no packs, no gear, and absolutely no alligator repellant.

The truth is, I always have to keep going just a few more steps just to see what may be ahead, no matter what we are facing in life.  

 And, I have to say I know this about me. 

And, I do it anyway as my longsuffering husband wanders behind me consistently repeating, "We should probably head back now" while I pretend I don't hear him and just keep moving forward. 

Each time, I test that line just a little more until I hear that tone in his voice. You the one. It kind of sounds like a father who is just about done with their toddler. Curiosity just gets the best of me and my amazing husband has only so much grace for it when we are not "fully prepared".  He has to always be prepared. Always.

Remember? I'm the sail, he's the anchor. 

Poor guy. He has his hands full with me.

Our 10 minutes out of the car, though, quickly determined that this will be the place to go for the next hike, hands down.

Once we returned to the car, the decision was made that it would be a good idea to drive the roads of the preserve and check out the different parking spots and trailheads.  Because he knows me so well, my incredible husband stopped at every spot giving me a few minutes to step out, explore, ooooh and ahhhh and get a few pictures.

Somehow, what was supposed to be just a short outing to scope out this new place, became a full morning of exploring. 

On the drive home, we reflected on the weekend as a whole and recalled how incredibly "full" our life is. 

Adventure wasn't just defined by whether or not we hiked Sunday morning. It was found in discussing deep things with the people we do life with Friday night. It was found shopping at Ikea on Saturday with our kiddo who decided he needed to count every single step he took while we were there. I stopped listening at 1,245. He didn't stop counting. 

Adventure was found when we went on a double date with some new friends Saturday night and drove home talking about how amazed we are at the incredible people God consistently brings into our lives. And, finally, adventure was found when we, I mean I, changed my disappointed attitude around Sunday morning and decided to make the best of my sickly situation and found a way to explore anyway with an open heart and a hand full of tissues.

I wouldn't go as far as saying we have childlike faith, but we are finding that as we age we are becoming more and more amazed at the beauty found in simplicity, the unassuming, and the everyday. 

We are discovering that real adventure is more about what we are learning about ourselves and the outlook we bring to situations than it is about discovering new places.

But, we are still going to go new places. 

I mean, really.

"If you pursue happiness, you are an ordinary person. If happiness pursues you, you are an extraordinary person. Do not chase happiness; let it chase you."

~ Peter Dunov

Adventure When You're Lost

"You'd be surprised who the love of your life turns out to be. After all, Adventure fell in love with Lost." ~ Erin Van Vuren

So, we're nothing alike and almost exactly alike. There's a saying that over the years couples tend to begin to look like each other. I'm not sure that we are there yet, but somehow over our time together we have come to resemble each other in the oddest of ways and it comes out at the funniest of times.

Saturday our plans for our morning hike were shifted, which totally turned out to be great. This actually had to have been part of the "Master Plan" as it was the most beautiful day we've seen here in North Texas in a while and we ended up on an amazing 70-degree afternoon outing. 

It was perfection. 

Anyway, what transpired throughout the day leading up to the hike was a whole lot less than perfect. It was just one of those days where my every flaw was screaming at me so loudly I could not remember who I was or where I was going. But you know... 20 years of marriage and all seeped in and my guy stopped me in the middle of one of my 600 fits that day and, well, he forced me to take a breath. He put his hand on my shoulder, lowered his voice, wrapped me up in those arms and then, I fell apart. 

After about what seemed like forever and a whole lot of tears and some slobber, (so attractive, I know) I finally settled. He convinced me to put on the shirt that I had just thrown across the room because I felt like it was too small and my new Salomons and get ready to get out in the sunshine. 

And while I run the risk of offending some ultra independent women out there by what I'm going to say next, it really needs to be said. 

He did something that had to be done in that moment: 

He led me. 

You see, I was so lost in my insecurities and what I saw as all of my flaws that day that I needed someone to lead me out. And when I just couldn't deal, he reigned me in and convinced me to lace up my shoes and hit the trails with him. 

So I did and he was right and it was all I needed. 

By ten minutes in, I was feeling like myself again. And although we were out there with what felt like every other human being that had been hibernating all winter, it was perfect. 

Once I started to calm down and we could focus on other things, we began to really enjoy breaking in our most recent investment for this new hiking lifestyle we are enjoying. 

At our backpacking basics class a few weeks ago, the instructor convinced us that the most important things we would need would have everything to do with caring for our feet. So with a little planning, some budgeting, and the grace of God, we made our first legit hiking purchases and grabbed some new treads and socks that have, get this, a lifetime guarantee. Who knew?  

Shopping for this gear was no joke. We spent over an hour at REI getting fitted, talking about our outdoor needs and what our future outdoor plans were just to find the right shoes. I'm sorry, did I say we? I meant I. I spent over an hour finding the right ones. Mr. Focus walked in and found his in less than ten minutes. 

Nevertheless, the intensity of the whole experience ended up reminding me of a weird combination of buying a car and adopting our rescue dog. 

The rest of our hike consisted of enjoying the sunshine, perfect temperature, and lots of talking about all of the things in this life we have to be grateful for including how absolutely on point our new shoes were. We were wondering how in the world we ever lived without real hiking shoes when we encountered one of my favorite short climbs, and I remembered exactly how and why God put us together.

This picture doesn't show the intensity of this small, but steep climb so it's hard to tell that it requires a little more effort than you would think. But, what it does show is that you have two options...the carefully placed rocks or, well, the other way. 

And funny enough I am the girl who always gravitates towards the tougher choice. You could put the easiest path in front of me, no matter what it is in life, and I am going to end up going for the harder option. 

Why? 

WHO KNOWS!?!?!

 I wish I could say something super empowered like, "It's because I love a challenge", but that is just not true. I am not that girl. I really can't even tell you why I tend to opt for the more difficult path other than it's just who I am and there really is no logic to it. 

So, what happened when we were at the foot of this thing and I asked my guy which way he wanted to go? He said, "Let's go to the right."

Sigh...

That's why he's mine.You see, he's all about practicality and what makes the most sense and having a plan for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. But, then sometimes he kind of "looks like me" and goes the hard way just because. 

And when I'm having a rough day, that's just the kind of leading I need. 

At the end of the day, I guess that's what this big adventure is all about. 

Some days when you're feeling lost, you have to lean on someone else to lead you out and if you're really lucky they "look" a little bit like you. 

Real Life

There are days we want to go hike but real life and priorities take over, kind of like Saturday when our first-year college kid went back to school after his month-long Christmas break. 

Honestly, it was such a weird, bittersweet day. True to form, he and I spent the first hour of the morning butting heads over something so insignificant I can't even recall what it was. Even more true to form, Jason just sat in his chair shaking his head and commenting on how he is just done with us. 

You see, that strong-willed, super-opinionated 19-year-old of ours is JUST. LIKE. ME. What this really means is that we only speak "stubborn-ese" and express emotions through arguing instead of just admitting that his leaving was going to be a little tough. 

In this boy-filled house, our sentimentality levels are quite low so adjusting to our new normal after Dillon originally left happened rather quickly. Thanksgiving break ended as quickly as it began and gave us no real understanding of what it would be like to have his return for one whole month. 

Surprisingly enough, the adjustment happened quickly and while it was new for all of us and we learned a lot, Jason and I can now honestly say that THIS phase of parenting has to be the hardest and weirdest there is. 

Jason adored having his "sense of humor twin" back home. They laugh at the same inappropriate things and wrestle for no reason at all and neither I nor Greg engages in that juvenile behavior...well, not as frequently as J would like anyway. I really enjoyed having my firstborn back under my roof at night. Knowing he was safely asleep in a REAL bed, and not the egg crate foam mattress that is his current excuse for a bed was the epitome of peace. However, that sweetness was often juxtaposed with the constant, "MAAAMMMM, I got it! I GOT IT!" that followed many of our conversations over the last several weeks. 

Somehow, J and I have found ourselves in a season where we have to carefully pick and choose our discussions as we want him to act like an adult, but he's not really an adult, but he lives on his own, but we cover the car insurance, but... You get it. So when he spent the last two days here sick and I was asking him to be on top of taking his meds at school and I got this response:

"You can want in one hand and, uh, "wish" in the other..."

Don't get me wrong, he is truly an incredible young man and we have been utterly blessed to have him as our firstborn. We were literally his age when we got married and just a year older than that when he was born. How weird is that? 

The very fact that he turned out so well when he had two babies as parents is nothing less than miraculous and one of the very best testaments of our journey! Raising him taught us more about growing up than anything else. This has often included constantly having conversations centered around teaching him to not make the same decisions we did. Each one leaves us wondering if this will be the one that will send him over the edge, but for the most part, it never does. He and God both have a lot of grace for the two of us. 

This same type of conversation was still occurring in some form when we were shoving his things in suitcases and trash bags and heading out to load them into the car for the trip back to school. 

How in the world did he leave with way more than he came home with? 

One thing that J and I have learned during this part of our life journey is that while our parenting requirements may change, the opportunity to teach and, hopefully, impart wisdom, never does, and for that, we are eternally grateful. 

By the grace of God, two young and dumb kids have made it through 26 years of life together, were given the chance to marry each other twice and raise two amazing kids. 

We are now entering a phase of life that has left behind changing diapers, wiping noses, and taking kids to football games, and now have the freedom to plan weekly hikes without hiring a sitter or go out with friends to dinner without being interrupted 800 million times. Truth, be told we are not sad about it one bit. And truth be told again...I'm not sure saying goodbye when one of your kids leaves and reality hits that life has changed and they don't really "belong" to you that way anymore ever gets any easier. 

Be still my heart. 

Maybe next this week's date night and Saturday morning hike will take the sting out of this one just a bit. 

It's all good though, it's just a new leg of the journey in our new adventure.