Driving late into the night.. there is something about roadtrippin after dark that is so exciting.

Morning dawned rainy and cozy..

COFFEE! We drove through Louisville, KY and some dear friends who used to live there recommended this amazing coffee shop called Sunergos. They roast their own beans! Absolutely delicious.

King Julian helped guide the way..

A journal to write down my adventures.

Reunited with my big brother!

Saturday we went into Chicago and hung out at the most delicious coffee shop in the Ukranian village. They had the most unique drinks ever! Mine was a Mayan mocha with chocolate and cayenne.. and Josh’s had sage and pepper in it! They were absolutely delightful.

Catching up on photos and trips and life…

I fell in love with this mural of Cheshire Cat outside the coffee shop.

We hit up Wicker Park and wandered around the streets bursting with art and color.

We stumbled across this delicious Gyros place. Out of this world.

And an incredible coffee shop called the Worm Hole, filled with fun Star Wars posters, the back to the future car, and ninja turtles to name a few.

Oh and not to mention, ammmmazing coffee.

And no trip to Chicago is complete without the world’s best pizza….

Giordano’s deep dish!! Any pizza after this seems like a whisper… or a ghost. :p

We got to hang out with Josh’s awesome friend Isaac over pizza..

One last coffee with Josh before we hit the road back home..

On the drive home we stopped at this amazing little Mexican place. Yes.. Mexican food is my number one.

And of course we had to hit up Sunergos on the way back too! That place is just too amazing.

It was a crazy, short trip filled with so much fun, love, art and good coffee.

Coming up next… beach trip!

xoxoxo, Bethany

I have never been as excited for summer to come as I have been this year. I’m not really sure why. But for months now I’ve been dreaming and longing for warm weather and sunshine and green grass and color and new life.

Summer is happiness. Sunshine spreading all over everyone and flowers popping up everywhere sharing their exquisite colors. It is about friendship, about love, about being with the ones God has brought into your life.

I know it is not officially summer yet. But it has arrived already where I live.. and this year I am welcoming it with open arms.

It think what delights me about summer more than anything else is new life. Everywhere around me new life is happening. Baby birds, flowers blooming, grass turning from the drab brownish color it dons in winter to a vibrant, soft lime green in summer. Everywhere is an image of Life and an image of the One who breathed life into being. When I sit outside on a warm summer day and feel the cool breeze playing with my hair and hearing the birds sing their melodious songs.. I believe in the depths of my heart that there are second chances. That there is always new life for the asking.

My dream for this summer is to spend as much time as possible out of doors. Basking in the beauty that God has brought to life.

Chilling with people that I love and that love me and enjoying their presence.. not taking them for granted.

Breathing in the colors, the vibrance, the life all around me.

Soaking up the rays of sunlight that streak across my path.

Diving into life heart first.

Loving as I have been loved.

Serving as I have been served.

My dream for the next 2 1/2 months is this. To raise $22,000 to bring clean water to a community in Ethiopia. Because I want to give, to inspire, to love my family around this big, beautiful world. Because my Jesus lived like that. You can join in my dream to help bring clean water, and a new life, to some beautiful people by clicking HERE.

Peace and love,

Bethany

PS. I so love this song:

I spent the first part of my day chilling in the swing by the pool, soaking up the sunshine and reading a good book.

The leaves are starting to color the trees with various shades of green!

My mom and sisters and I celebrated with refreshing cold coffees…

And John and I had a little date at our favorite date place.. Chipotle! I had a buy one get one free which made it even more awesome.

My amazing friends in my lifegroup threw my a surprise party! It was so fun and there was so much delicious food.. and I felt so loved. Annnnd… I forgot to take any pics

The next day we had my family birthday party by the pool!

Grilled veggie burgers, blue bell ice cream, tres leches cake..

So thankful for warmness and sunshine and happiness and family and love.

And PRESENTS!

My sisters gave me a Harry Potter birthday. Rachelle bought me Harry Potter’s wand while visiting Unviersal studios and the Harry Potter world.. ! And Sarah made this beautiful chest for me to store all the books in – and the fun little book, too!
My mom and John’s parents added a few more lovely collectible books to my shelf..

And last but not least.. everyone who gave to my charity:water birthday campaign, THANK YOU! It means the world to me! You are saving lives! Over 800 million people live without access to clean water. Millions of people die every day because of it. But we can make a difference! You can support my charity:water campaign by clicking HERE.

Peace and love, Bethany

Spring is finally, finally coming to visit us. This winter just wouldn’t give up. It’s terrible, but I’m getting used to easy breezy over-with-quickly winters of North Carolina. This one seemed to last forever.. but I think we finally do have spring.

So I celebrate with summer skirts! This one makes me want to ride a little bike around Europe.

And a soft serve cone! I don’t remember the last time I had one of these.. and I felt like a giddy little kid.

John’s family came up for a weekend.. and it was actually warm enough to go on a little hike!

Catching a ride..

They celebrated my birthday early since by the time they came up again it’ll be closer to the next birthday to celebrate.. Isn’t that the cutest cake ever?

And of course we spend lots of time hanging at our favorite “local” coffeeshop – Smelly Cat in Noda. It’s about 30 min drive but that’s not too far for this amazing place.

Sometimes we even host a service via online campus from Smelly Cat..

See the roaster in the back? I told you, good coffee.

We had a super fun “Aloha” themed birthday party for two of our friends in our life group. Sadly, somehow I didn’t even get a picture of the birthday guy & gal together!

We played a rollicking game of “Would You Rather” that had us falling over in laughter…

For one challenge I had to hold a spoon in my mouth the entire turn, talking or not.

I got to go see Peter Pan the ballet with my mom and sisters, which was absolutely beautiful. 

The anticipation of the red curtain…

Charlotte has some funny little artsy sculptures.. this one is my favorite.

The next few pictures are just some of the random lovelies that have been happening in my life… such as a good book and coffee..

Cupcakes. Are always a good thing.

Warm, freshly baked bread..

One of my favorite foods in the world.. enchiladas suizas from On the Border..

Live music and a delicious coffee at Summit..

Oh so delicious Indian food for my mom’s birthday party..

FRENCH FRIES. One of my greatest weakness. And FlatIron knows how to do fries. Served with a creamy parmesan sauce. Out of this world.

Going to see Jack The Giant Slayer in our PJ’s with my sisters..

Chilling with my buddy, Julia..

Finding Eragon at a thrift shop for only $0.50 ..

Two new lovely books with a gift card from my family-in-law..

My favorite drink at Starbucks – iced Hazelnut macchiato..

Spring clothes and flowers!

Freshly baked granola bars..

A super fun date with John playing black light mini golf..

And my first time EVER playing arcade games..

Being silly at McDonalds with my buddy Julia..

And of course, getting happy meals, because we can.

I got to see Wicked! LIVE! It was so absolutely spectacularly wonderfully amazing… I actually cried.

Yes, we were thrilled.

And a couple days later we went to see Oz the Great and Powerful..

Oh and we downed TWO extra large popcorn tubs. LIKE A BOSS.

A red velvet cupcake. Muah.Sipping my drink.. again.. :p
Breaking out the spring colors! Finally!

And last but not least, EASTER!

Easter at our church is a huge celebration.. watching people receive new life in Christ. It’s the best way to celebrate Easter.

A cute little Easter basket from my mom with a boy and girl bunny..

Sarah made the most adorable eggs in a nest for dinner – hardboiled eggs in pasta. Adorable AND delicious.

My happy Easter outfit..

It was a rainy Easter morning, so our sunrise service had to be indoors. But that didn’t stop the sunrise.. the orange lights slowly made their way up through the service, with the rays beaming out, I think it was the most beautiful unreal sunrise ever.
Here’s how I described the weekend in a nugget on FB.

“What better way to celebrate Easter weekend than with 6 incredible services, full of awe filled worship, anointed messages, people giving their lives to Christ for the first time, (including at least two people via online campus!) people re-dedicating their lives and person after person taking the plunge and celebrating new life in Christ by baptism! My weekend was so full of happy tears, chills and ferocious clapping and screaming and laughing and celebrating. Jesus is alive friends, because I just spent a weekend watching Him resurrect people.”

xoxoxo, Bethany

Watch our music video by clicking on this link!

If you watch carefully you can catch quick shots of both of my sisters and John’s brother!

Enjoy!

Bethany

My dear friend Katie had her birthday a couple weeks back, and to celebrate, she took some of her besties to uptown Charlotte for a night.

The view from our lovely hotel room.

Some of my favorite girls in the world.

The hotel was absolutely gorgeous. A modern, stylish design with cool little nooks and corners everywhere to chill.

Walking to our restaurant in uptown.

You can’t go to Charlotte without visiting Amelie’s – the charming and delicious french bakery.

We spent the next day wandering around shops in an arts district, which sadly, I left my camera (and iPhone) in the car, so no pictures. We found this amazing vegetarian place for lunch that felt more like a spa inside

The wall was covered with beautiful living greens and the whole place had a very soft and warm feel to it.

And the food was absolutely exquisite. One of the best veggie burgers I’ver ever had, with a side of amazing potatoes.

So that was my lovely little night away with girlfriends. I haven’t be able to do that for a long time and it was absolutely lovely

xoxoxo,

Bethany

To see a view that can only be seen after pushing through a hike, running out of breath, wiping sweat off your forehead, that is pleasure. The sky is that much more blue, the clouds so much fluffier, and the panorama stretching out before you so much more magnificent.

Skip the bridge, I’ll take the rocks.

Because few things make this girl happier than fresh mountain air.

Deep blue sky, and violent rushing water.. it soothes my soul.

Peace and love,

Bethany

God sent me one person to give a gift.

I’m so floored. God answers prayer. All He needs is open and willing hearts. I’m crying as I write this because I am so overwhelmed by the Almighty God I have – and the generous people out there who love Him.

THANK YOU. To every single person who gave, no matter how small it felt. I know it was from your heart and to me that is all that matters. I know that’s all that matters to God , too. You gave generously from a willing heart, and that made all the difference.

I only have $50 left to raise to complete my campaign – and nearly a month to do it! But lets see how far above and beyond we can go!

Thank you EVERYONE for helping me change a community in Ethiopia – for being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Please share my campaign with your friends and family- spread the word to whoever who know! Let’s see just how much we can change this community!

Visit my campaign by clicking HERE.

Peace and love, Bethany

We went to Rock Hill, SC and found this adorable little coffee shop with the world’s best chai latte – Mamma’s Coffee House. I didn’t take a picture but if it was your first time there you got to sign the building with a permanent marker. I signed the floor – but the walls, floor and ceiling were covered with signatures. It was rad!

I was wishing it was a warm, sunny day because the outdoor seating was just so charming!

For breakfast we hit up a little local cafe - Lell’s Cafe. I was shocked and delighted when I stumbled across a breakfast burrito smothered in – wait for it – New Mexico green chile sauce!! I flipped out and asked my waitress and she said the owner was from Albuquerque. I lived there for nearly two years and am addicted to New Mexico green chiles. There is seriously nothing like it in the world. It was absolutely delicious! 

We didn’t get to spend much time in charming downtown Rock Hill because nothing was really open yet, and it was freezing cold!

We ate Friday night dinner at a little local pizzeria – Luigi and Son’s Italian Restaurant – and for dessert I had the most amazing Cafe gelato – imported from Italy. It was smooth and creamy and chocolately and so yummy… and they let me keep the cute little glass cup!

We had a delightful little getaway.

Peace and love,

Bethany

Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back.”

Once a week my Mom and I go hiking. I love it so much. Experiencing nature is such a huge part of who I am.

This week we went to Kings Mountain National Military Park and climbed Brown’s Peak. It was beautiful and had a very wild feeling to the area.

The view from the top was actually a delightful surprise. It’s hard to get views in the NC/SC mountains, because there are so many trees – and let’s just be honest, because you don’t get up very high even on the top of the peaks. But this view was very lovely and you could hardly see any buildings in the distance!

Here’s my lovely trail lunch, consisting of an avocado with the largest pit I’ve ever seen, a handful of succulent dates and homemade gluten free, egg free, oil free, dairy free granola bars! Okay, the chocolate chips had a little dairy in them.

My lovely mom at the summit!

‘I love to wander by the stream that dances in the sun, so joyously it calls to me, “Come, join my happy song!” ‘

Working on my bridge pose. Looks more like a table right now.. haha!

“I wave my hat to all I meet,
And they wave back to me,
And blackbirds call so loud and sweet
From ev’ry green wood tree.”

“High overhead the skylarks wing, they never rest at home, but just like, me they love to sing, as o’er the world we roam!”

“Oh, may I go a-wandering
Until the day I die!
Oh, may I always laugh and sing,
Beneath God’s clear blue sky!

Val-deri,Val-dera,
Val-deri,
Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha
Val-deri,Val-dera.
My knapsack on my back.”

Peace and love,

Bethany