One of our first weekends in Paris, some of our new friends invited us to join them for Saturday afternoon jazz at a hip but classically Parisian coffee and wine bar. We loved the music, and it felt like the most Paris thing to do ever, crowded around a few tiny tables, enjoying good company … Continue reading Jazzy Paris
Before the possibility of moving to France was ever a blip on our radar, I fell in love with France. I had long loved the French language, but it wasn't until I dove into reading stories about foreigners experiencing life abroad that I fell in love with all aspects of French culture. If you want … Continue reading All the Books to Dream about Living in France
Alright. I've put it off long enough. I'm one of those people who starts a million different things and then leaves them unfinished because I get excited about something else in the meantime, or I feel overwhelmed that I don't have enough time to do it justice (aka perfectly), so I put it off until … Continue reading paris essentials: a love story
Back to our time in London. Do you ever see photos of a place and imagine what it's like to be there, but then when you get there it's so different from what you expected? That's what our trip to London was like for me. Usually when you have that experience, being in the real … Continue reading england – part ii: magical london
London was never really on my radar because it didn't seem that different from the US. They speak the same language, so what's the big deal? Let's go somewhere exotic instead! Then we moved to France and people told us we could take the Chunnel from Paris to London in two hours, so I figured … Continue reading england – part i: london in the fall
Usually when we hear the word "cozy," we think of knit blankets, fuzzy animal friends, lit candles, and warm drinks. In this winter season of Hygge, we're constantly on the lookout for cozy. But coziness can be found outside of the traditional sense, too. For something to be cozy in my eyes, it needs to … Continue reading finding coziness
In the spirit of continuing to blog long overdue travel summaries, here is the next post in the "Jackson Tour of the US" series... Being outdoors has always inspired in me a sense of exploration, and there's no place in the US I've found to be more adventurous than Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Every … Continue reading mitchell lake & blue lake hike
What were you doing in 1570? Oh wait, that was 37 years before your ancestors had possibly even come over on the Mayflower and 200 years before America was officially a country. But since then, for 448 years, Strasbourg has hosted the “Christkindelsmärik," the oldest Christmas market in Europe. Since my parents were with us for … Continue reading strasbourg, the capital of christmas
This year certainly had its ups and downs. Having worked in college ministry, being back in grad school, and then being on a college ministry schedule again, I tend to view each year in terms of the school schedule (i.e., September-June) rather than the calendar year. Until now I haven't really reflected on 2018 as … Continue reading 2018 recap
The recap of the Jackson Tour of the US 2017 continues! To continue the timeline: July 9 - We flew straight from Seattle to Denver, and then hopped on a bus to Fort Collins July 10-14 - Whit had a training conference for leading his upcoming team to Paris, and I tried to manage our … Continue reading colorado
