i am consistently amazed by this life and all that it has to offer and have been blessed with so many incredible experiences by trusting life to take me where i need to be. i love to challenge myself both physically and mentally. learning another language, living in another country, and grappling with my faith have been some of my greatest challenges to date. i can be very serious and often find myself attempting not to take myself so seriously. still, i love to laugh and often do so without reserve and its rare that much time will pass before a smile crosses my lips. i ask big questions and require a lot of myself but i also can't help reveling in the beauty of life and savoring both it's simplicities and complexities. i'd rather get down and dirty and enjoy the meal, even if it means ending up with some on my chin. my life wouldn't be complete without travel, friends, and wilderness. i learn something new every day.

following my passion. figuring out my faith. asking big questions. enjoying my favorite city. learning much about how the body works and how to make it work better. biking, climbing, lifting, hiking, practicing and teaching yoga.

enjoying simplicity. budget travel. trying anything once. listening. speaking spanish. making perfect omelettes.

my smile. closely followed by my, ahem, charming clumsiness.

books...both a guilty pleasure and as essential as air. gabriel garcia marquez, tom robbins, edward abbey, isabelle allende, david sedaris, tim keller, cs lewis, the bible. currently reading el juego del angel by carlos ruiz zafon

movies...triplets of belleville, amelie, little miss sunshine, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, miyazaki, almodóvar

music...again, essential...and too vast to list here. but if i had to name just a few artists here, i'd include sufjan stevens, richard buckner, m ward, wilco, beirut, gillian welch, neko case, bon iver, alela diane

food...almost anything, the fresher/more local the better.

1. grace
2. friends who make me laugh and cry
3. travel
4. astonishing natural beauty/wilderness
5. music and books that feed my soul
6. umm...my morning french press?

God, unlimited human potential, priorities, truth and sacrifice, my friends, my next meal

at happy hour with friends, drinking tea and reading a book, biking up mt tabor, cooking yummy food, going to bed early, going to bed late