As I was purchasing the same hummus and broccoli that had filled my grocery basket for the past several months, I had one of those awkward realizations that made me thankful that no one has developed an app to read minds. Especially one that would admit those thoughts out loud to my family. Yup. My … More …in His image.

2012 is apparently my year for country band concerts. I’ve already seen several pretty big groups and have in my possession tickets with many more names listed. Great shows, so far. And they’ve all been amazing. Great shows with big lights, big sound, big energy, big crowds and big entertainment. Great shows that probably cost … More big deals

I was busy in 2008. I ran every day. I created adventures individually worthy of several scrapbook pages each weekend. I planned dinner parties regularly. I played sand volleyball instead of napping when I exhausted. I was the last to leave game nights. I always had time to stop by El Arroyo, ending Sundays with Ascent … More “Oh, good, I’m so glad that you’re a real person.”

In the span of approximately 10 minutes last week, I text messaged, talked on the phone, Facetimed, Facebooked and emailed with Amber. I’m not sure why each point of communication was made and but am certain that most of it was relatively pointless and merely for a few giggles between friends separated by about a … More Mt. Kilimanjaro: Unplugged

Over a million people call it home. They can see Mt. Kilimanjaro if they look east and slightly north. It’s somewhat close to Kenya. Starbucks grows coffee beans there, and sunflowers are used for oil, not eating. Donkeys, children and goats line the sides of the streets. Everyone seems to have a cell phone. And … More Tanzania: Everyday Arusha

Perhaps I was the only one who didn’t know that this would be the case, but starting the second day of our climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro, we found ourselves above the clouds, even if it was a blue, sunny, clear day down below because we were, technically, above the atmosphere of the surrounding area. Once … More Mt. Kilimanjaro: Above the Clouds

I don’t think that Jesus was one to use extra words. He probably didn’t suffer from the lack of a filter, like some of us sometimes do. And the people who wrote down the words that he did say didn’t get the chance to write down all of them. The book of John tells us … More Five Words

I didn’t grow up in a family that hiked. My Girl Scout troop went camping. Once. We had platform tents, and the daddy long legs spiders freaked me out so much that I decided this kind of stuff was not for me. I chose the “easy” trail in high school when in Colorado one summer … More It just sort of…happened.

“Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.” -Mrs. Starrett. I doubt that Mrs. Starrett, my high school orchestra conductor, was the first to utter such words, but her continued repetition of them stuck. She reminded us of this before auditions, as we sight read new symphonies, … More Good. Better. Best.

I’m convinced that sometimes God answers our prayers exactly how we want them to be answered and then sits back and laughs as we attempt to navigate what we think is the best outcome to a particular situation. I have no biblical proof of this, but I found myself giggling out loud, all alone in … More He MUST be laughing