france.

A little of Paris.  A little of Versailles.  A little of Normandy.   

There are so many stories within these photos, but I just can’t share all of them through text.  If only there was a simple, story-telling platform where I could record our voices sharing the stories behind these photos…

It has been such fun to go back over these photos and think about what an adventure I got to share with my favorite person in the world.  I’m excited for more adventures, not sure they’ll always feel as fancy as trips to Paris, but they’ll be with D and so I’m on board for whatever.  

the eiffel tower.

We spent two evenings at the Eiffel Tower while we were in Paris.  The first evening happened to be the first night we were in Paris.  After spending an hour trying to rent bicycles only to realize you cannot rent bicycles if you are a tourist, we walked until our legs ached and our stomachs were empty (and one of us was grumpy…me).  We found a little food vendor right at the edge of the park selling cheese & tomato sandwiches…sandwiches from heaven, I liked to call them.  That’s when we decided we’d spend one of our evenings back at the tower with a full-fledge picnic blanket and wine. 

The evening we came back to the tower was lovely.  It was just cool enough to need a light jacket and drink wine until our cheeks were red.  We took a block of cheese, a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread, and a bar of chocolate.  All the major food groups of France.  It was by far one of our most relaxing and lovely evenings.  

D took all the photos below that are of any photography merit.  I love having a creative husband.  It was just fun playing with the camera in the most beautiful spot in the City of Lights.  

The tower is much more impressive than I had imagined it.  Beautiful at any time of day.

And then at 9:00 o’clock every evening, it does this…

the parisian apartment.

It will be Christmas before I finish the series of posts about our trip.

Midway during the trip we took the chunnel from London into Paris.  It was very Harry Potter of us…apparently.  I just kept picturing scenes from the Bourne Identity while ducking through the crowds and always looking behind me.  The train really was a very easy way to get into France, so much so, that I wonder why anyone would fly.  

When we arrived in Paris, we planned to take a cab from the station to our apartment and frankly that was the greatest idea we had since the idea to take the trip.  We might still be wandering around looking for the apartment.  It really wasn’t very far, but it would have been a dreadfully long walk with our luggage.  Prior to the trip, we’d done a lot of research on places to stay and I am so glad we used airbnb to find an apartment.  It was a refreshing change from our hotel in London and it was nice to have our little place to call home in a city where no one knew who we were.  I took a few pictures of it when we arrived.  I didn’t get a very good picture of the bedroom or the bathroom, but alas, I’m not sure anyone’s super bummed about that. The bathroom was actually really cool though, spacious and Moroccan-themed.  

I really loved her collection of books in the loft.

The view from the windows.

Instagram favorites.  I obsessed over the spiral staircase for the majority of our time.  It was just stunning.  We also got to enjoy it a lot because our apartment was on the sixth floor with no elevator.  Beautiful and calorie-burning.  

and a preview of the rest of our week in Paris…

more London...

Every post I write about our trip I want to start by saying “this was my favorite day,” but then I realize I’ve said that about every day.  So alas, another lovely day in London.  We started by attempting to see the changing of the guard, which was somewhat of a bust, because the Palace was crawling with people with the same idea.  It was the only day in London that was somewhat dreary, but I loved it.  I loved the dreary, hair-frizzing weather.  

We strolled through the park again to find coffee and Curzon Street.  We sat outside at a little cafe and sipped coffee near Curzon Plaza so that afterwards I could force D to pose for several pictures next to any signs with our name on them.  I’m pretty proud of myself though because look how cute he is in those red pants.  Also, it was fun being in a country where we didn’t have to spell our last name everywhere we went.

That afternoon we toured the state rooms at Buckingham Palace and it was well worth it.  In the evening, we walked across the city to attend the evening service of Hillsong London.  I am so glad that we decided to do this.  It was just so encouraging to experience their worship and watch the church in London do what the church is called to do.  We walked back toward Piccadilly Circus in search of Hatchards, the oldest bookstore in London so we could tell D’s mom all about it & convince her that she needs to travel to London if not for any reason other than the old books.  Our evening ended with a lovely dinner at The Wolseley, a beautiful restaurant where they called us Mr. & Mrs. Curzon in British accents while serving us cocktails….

London Day 2

This day we discovered the beauty of food markets and bicycles.  We started by renting bicycles and riding to the Borough Market.  It was a chilly day and the market was packed with people drinking coffee and perusing the booths filled with breads, cheeses, chocolates, and other deliciousness.  Dustin took some great photos and I’ve picked a few of my favorites to share below.

We rode our bikes across London Bridge to the Tower of London.  The Paralympics were going on and you can see the logo on Tower Bridge behind D.  It was really inspiring to see so many athletes and their families all over the city.  We toured the Tower of London, saw the crown jewels, and some strange actors pretending to be peasants living within the tower.  In the afternoon we rode over to the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern.  We truly love going to art museums.  I won’t pretend like we always “get it,” but the whole experience is like enjoying a slow cup of coffee.  If only I could start touring museums in my sweat pants.  Our dinner was bread, cheese, & wine.  We spent the evening in the West End to see The Lion King.  A lovely ending to a very busy day.  

This is my “stop taking pictures of me” face:

Some Instagram favs…

Our trip.

Do these look like the faces of two people excited to leave the country for 10 days?  Or rather the faces of two people that haven’t left Tulsa and are already bored travelers messing with the camera?  Both are actually true.

Let this be the first of a few posts about our long-awaited trip to London & Paris.  When we got married, we agreed that we’d travel to Europe just the two of us.  Mainly because I have this irrational fear that once we have kids we’ll never be able to do anything fun ever again…I’m sorry for saying that future-kids, I’m really hoping you’ll prove me wrong.  

Anyway, we’ve been planning the trip for a long time and it was lovely.  We bought a new camera so that I could practice only using it on manual and so Dustin could show me up with his photography skills.  We came home with over 400 images and I will not be sharing all of them because no one wants to see that.  Not even me and I lived it, but I am going to share some stories through photos.  They’re the stories of our sweet time together in Europe and I am so thankful.

Our first day in London surprised us.  Or we surprised ourselves because we were full of energy and ended up walking quite a long way across Westminster Bridge to Westminster Abbey (so cool) to St. James Park to Buckingham Palace and back.  We ran around enjoying the weather and the camera.  

Meme

"My help and glory are in God, granite-strength and safe-harbor God; So trust Him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for Him.  God is a safe place to be."

- from Psalm 62, The Message translation

I started this blog to document the things that mean something to me, the things I like and the things I love.  It’s a simple blog, but it documents our life and I enjoy it.  

Honestly I’ve not wanted to post much lately.  We’ve had much to celebrate, but we’ve really had a lot to grieve so I’ve just avoided documenting it regardless of the significance.  Tonight I’m just letting the photo and the scripture tell the story.  It’s a story about my fiercely loving Meme and a story about the 10,000 reasons I have to lay my life on the line for a most gracious God.      

 It’s really just for me so it doesn’t matter much what I write.  

Year Two

Two whole years.

That’s how long we’ve been married today.  

Last year I wrote about being overwhelmed with joy and frankly I still am.  I still feel my heart swell in my chest when I think about that August summer day.  Sometimes D and  I talk about what it would have been like to attend our own wedding.  I realize that sounds silly because obviously we were there, but I wonder if our friends and family felt the significance of all the details.  I suppose not.  How can anyone know the details like they know the details of their own wedding?

Two whole years later I want to remember the details because we cared a lot about them.  Not the everything-must-appear-perfect kind of details, but the little things that made it the story of our wedding…filled with a lot of little stories.  

Our grandfathers both wore white dinner jackets with their tuxedos because they both wore them in their own weddings.

We asked Ben & Noelle to sing “Glory in the Highest” for the bride’s entrance because of the lyrics, because we wanted a song full of praise to God, because we wanted our guests to hear the gospel through the details.  

We said “to you I promise to be faithful” as part our vows because we loved the language of that promise in the midst of a culture where faithfulness isn’t often a priority.  

Our dear friend Stephen and his jazz band played live music during the cocktail hour at The Mayo.  I share this because its a detail many didn’t notice because it became so loud once the room filled with people.

We purposefully chose to go upstairs to the ballroom first so that we could see everyone as they came off the elevators.  Something I would do again every time.  We wholeheartedly wanted to say hello to everyone that came.  

Amy Ann’s adorable mom tied the bow for our cake.  She just knows how to tie a good bow.  It’s a silly detail, but I’ll always remember her taking the task very seriously, caring about the small detail as if it were her own cake.

We didn’t know how to do a grand exit since we were staying at The Mayo so we just asked the DJ to play “Let’s Get It On” as we left the reception because well…

My garter was worn by 3 of my bridesmaids that same summer.  (Yes, 2010 was the summer we all became experts on wedding showers, bachelorette parties, and other bridesmaids’ duties.)  I’m saving it for Rachel.  

At the time, D was working as a full time photographer and he just happened to work for one of the best.  What did this mean for us?  It means our friends took our wedding pictures.  It means we have approximately 436,217 pictures.  I exaggerate, but we do truly have every single image that was captured that day, every unedited, candid shot.  So in the spirit of sharing the little stories for our day, I’ve picked out some of my favorite candid moments.  No pretty, photo-shopped, posed pictures today.  I love the candid because it captures the joy of the day, it shows the people we love most in the world dancing, laughing, and celebrating what God has done.

Finally, to my precious man, I’ll follow you wherever you go as long as I live.  I love you.

narrable press

I love letting this little blog be the place I document our life.  

The July 2012 issue of Tulsa People focused on technology and entrepreneurialism in Tulsa.  I know I’m biased, but how could they not include Dustin?  I’m telling you, this man knows what is happening in the tech industry…which is what happens when you are almost constantly reading, learning, and networking.  Within the last 6 months, he’s spent a lot of time traveling between Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and currently San Francisco.  I know there’s no way I’ll be able to adequately articulate the energy and heart he has put into this project so for now I’ll use my little piece of the interwebs to document the journey.

It’s hard to know what the future holds for Narrable, but I can say with all confidence, for us, every step of this journey has been about trusting God when the future is unknown.  If this is the last piece of press Narrable ever gets, we’ll rest easy because we know He is faithful and good.  That’s the part of our future that is certain.  

the gospel

I don’t know how to begin.

I figured that was the most effective way for me to begin my Guatemala recap because frankly I’ve been sitting here for a few minutes and this post isn’t going to write itself.  

D and I spent the last week in Guatemala.  We weren’t alone and we weren’t on vacation although I have already been asked about my vacation to Tanzania.  I suppose I don’t expect everyone to know what were doing, but to clear any discrepancies, we were not in Africa on vacation.  

We spent the week working alongside some amazing students and leaders working with ministries that serve some of the poorest areas of Guatemala City.  I stepped into this trip because I’d started meeting with some high school seniors at our church with Amy Ann.  D has been working with some high school juniors since they were in eighth grade.  His guys jokingly say they’d hazed D when he first started meeting with them, but I’m so proud of him for sticking it out.  I’m learning that for guys heckling can be a love language, which means these guys really love each other.  

This was my fourth trip to Guatemala since being a junior in high school myself.  I’ve walked into it in several phases of life, but I’ve never walked away with a clearer picture of Christ’s love for the church.  For many of you reading this, my prayer is that what I share makes you uncomfortable, uncomfortable in a way that challenges you to start figuring out what you believe, uncomfortable in a way that allows you to question God so He can prove himself to you. 

Here’s what I know with every fiber of my being to be the truth and the greatest news for every person:

We’ve messed up.  We don’t deserve what we have.  We can’t make it right.

We can’t make it right because the only person that could was Christ.  He never messed up.  He deserved everything, but lost it all so that He could make us right.  

Stop running from Him.  Stop striving to live a good life and rest in the freedom that’s He’s offering since He’s already made everything good.

The students we worked with this week get it.  They’re asking questions and they’re seeking to know Him.  They want their lives to represent the freedom that they have so that others’ can understand the Gospel.  They’ve inspired me to be bolder which is why I’m using this post to share in my own simple way what Christ has done for me and for you.  

My heart is that my own unperfect life would make much of the One who saved me.