I never would have thought that at 26 years old I’d be married, running three businesses with my husband, living in Colorado Springs, and talking about having kids. That’s not to say that I never thought these things would happen, just not in this particular combination 🙂 And truth be told, I couldn’t be happier. […]
The morning sky is overcast and grey, but despite the drop in temperature, I still feel sweaty in my bright orange jumpsuit and helmet. I anxiously review the sequence of the dive flow in my head – “exit, get stable, find Aaron…” – when the gust from the door opening shatters my train of thought. […]
Have you ever gone on a backpacking trip or a weekend climbing outing and realized you forgot something essential? I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that there have been a handful of times where Joe and I forgot to pack something we really needed in order to make a trip more enjoyable…like the time […]
I remember the day we met Richard for the first time. Joe and I were having lunch with our Chinese friends, Stephanie and Jack, at a tiny little dumpling restaurant in Guilin. As soon as Richard arrived and started talking, we were quite impressed with how well he spoke English. We all had a wonderful […]
Joe and I have had a blast writing twice a week for the last year. It’s hard to believe how far we have come. God has blessed us so much. It is a tremendous honor that anyone out there follows our adventure journal. Knowing that people read our stories has helped keep it alive. We […]
There is no one that Joe and I are more grateful for than our mothers. They have been our number one fans for as long as we can remember. We decided to use our blog to honor them today on Mother’s Day. Ann – Ever since I was a little girl I remember looking up […]
A couple days ago I took a few moments to relive our wedding, browsing through photos of the ceremony, reception, and the events that surrounded our big day. It still feels like it was just yesterday. I love how colorful and lively everyone was; the images of our wedding were perfect. I couldn’t help but […]
Last week I started lap swimming again. I’m not sure if it was my snug jeans or my busied mind that urged me to go. I’ve always sort of viewed swimming laps as a cleansing process; after a few minutes my body falls into a steady rhythm, I forget that I’m exercising, and I get […]
One afternoon in Yangshuo, Joe and I decided it was time to rent a tandem bicycle. We had been looking at them for a week and joked about taking one out, but now it was time to try something new. And I am so glad we did! Now, these tandem bikes aren’t your average rentals. […]
At the close of each trip or big adventure, Joe and I like to debrief our recent experiences on the drive or flight home. We spent the last five weeks in China and have learned so much, both about the Chinese culture and way of life, but also about international travel and logistics. On the […]
When we arrived in Guilin at the beginning of March our Chinese friend Stephanie, who works as an English tour guide, emphatically told Joe and I to visit the Longji rice terraces near Longsheng. She promised we wouldn’t regret it. From what I’d seen of the place in pictures her suggestions were definitely justified, but […]
On Wednesday Joe and I had what was probably our favorite day in Yangshuo. We had a restful morning – slept in, showered and got ready for the day, answered a few emails, ate lunch at a local restaurant, and headed to West Street. A few days earlier we’d met two 18 year old guys […]
It’s hard to believe that Guilin, China could ever feel so much like home. Our plane landed in Shanghai less than a week ago and I am already in love with this place. We have some favorite restaurants, a good handful of friends that we see everyday, and a hotel room that is beginning to […]
Written on February 27: I’m up late tonight getting really excited about our trip to China. We leave in two days! We fly out of Philly to Chicago early morning on February 29th, then we catch a 15 hour flight to Shanghai. We will spend the night there and then fly from Shanghai to the […]
Joe and I have been planning to take an extended adventure this spring for the last year. Almost every night we sit up in bed and read a chapter of one of our marriage books, chat about our day, and dream about where we’d like to go next. Until just a few weeks ago our […]
