The open road awaits...

Goodbye Washington...

Well everyone, we are leaving tomorrow morning for TX. Our first stop will be Billings, Montana. It will be our longest day with a 13 hour drive plus stops and mountain passes. Its been almost 3 years since I was last in MT and I can't wait to visit again :)

Wednesday will be a slightly shorter day headed towards Colorado Springs, CO. I'm actually looking forward to Wyoming's rolling flatness haha.

The final stretch of the trip will be 12 hours plus stops. I'm excited about Thursday because we will be driving through the northeast corner of New Mexico. One of the few states I have yet to visit and definitely one I've been waiting awhile to check off my list! With our final resting place being Euless, TX. We'll be right in the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Your prayers are much appreciated as we make the trip. Specifically that our car wouldn't have any problems and for safety as we travel.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Happy 2nd!

Today marks two months of being married to the most beautiful woman I know! She is beautiful not because of her contagious smile or her soft green eyes. She is beautiful because I know her heart for God and her desire to serve.

As you can see, her outward beauty is definitely a bonus ;-) I'm still discovering how much of a blessing she is to me. I thank God that she is ALL mine and I have the blessing of pushing her towards Christ each day!

Love you Hannah,
Jon

New Apartment!

We just applied for our new apartment in Dallas!! A hundred and eighteen dollars later and they are willing to consider us lol. 550 square feet with a balcony and outside storage plus its fully furnished!

Small? Yes. But it will fit our needs for now and God definitely brought people together to help us get this apartment.

Love you,

Jon & Hannah

Goodbye Hello...

Goodbye Washington.
That's right, Hannah and I are moving to Texas. After much thought and prayer and job searching, we decided that Texas is our destination.

Family, friends, amazing church and church family, youth group, rolling hills, beautiful mountains, and clean air are all on the list of things we will miss in Washington. Everyone has been such a blessing to us! We truly will miss everyone so much but we know this is what God has for us. We promise to visit :)

Hello Texas.
We are moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth area (Bedford to be exact). I will be working as campaign manager for Giovanni Capriglione. This is Giovanni's second time running for State Rep. in the 98th district. And with God's help, we will win in March!

We can't wait to meet new friends and see old friends! Most of all, we can't wait to see how God is going to use us in the great state of Texas. We would appreciate everyones prayers as we head out at the end of October.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

So much is happening...

This past weekend went by so quickly. Thanks to Seth I had a great time hanging out with the guys from youth group Friday night! Saturday I worked and directly afterwards we traded in our two cars and purchased a 2003 Saturn Vue. We were able to get a screaming deal on it and it is running really well! We promptly traveled up to Seattle to meet about forty others for the Sounders game. The stadium was packed for the final game of the season! It was definitely the loudest crowd I've ever heard at a soccer game, and rightly so as Seattle soundly crushed San Jose in the last ten minutes.

Sunday brought on a beautiful day which started with a great sermon by Pastor Jay. I continue to glean so much from his thought process and his interpretation of the Bible. He gave the analogy of being in a high ropes course and getting to the point at which you have to let go of the rope you're holding onto in order for you to grab a hold of the next rope. I could easily relate because I've done high ropes courses before. But his point was signifying that the rope that you're holding onto is "sin" and the rope you need to get to is "Christ." In order for you to finish the course, you have to let go of your sin and jump towards Christ and fill your life with Him. This analogy transfers into almost every aspect of life depending on how you look at it. For instance, Hannah and I just traded in our two cars to get a "new" one. We literally had to let go of what we had, put extra effort into getting what we wanted, and then grab a hold of it and make it our own. 

After church we went out to lunch with our "children" Katie and James! We had tons of fun just relaxing and talking (and eating). ;) Spending the afternoon and evening in Graham was a great way to wrap up the day.

Since I had Monday off work, we went and helped Pastor Elliot with one of his rental homes. Repairing shingles is not the easiest thing to do on a 45 degree angle.

All in all, a fun filled time with friends and family. Not too crazy, definitely not dull, and set the tone for the week ahead!

Love you,

Jon & Hannah

Can you name that car?!

So Hannah and I just traded in our two cars for this '03 Saturn Vue. Black in color, grey interior, drives smoothly, and we are really enjoying it!

But we need help giving it a name! Please comment or text us or something to help us name our new car :)

Thanks,
Jon & Hannah

Haircut much!

This is a short post and I just need some input from you! For various reasons I need to cut my hair and go with a short style. I found a few hairstyles that I like and I thought it would be fun to see what you all think.

Just write a comment and let me know which one you like best :)

#1. Purposefully messy

#2. Shaggy wave

#3. Professional/formal

#4. Stylish professional

Thanks for your input!

Jon

Grey Days...

Today is one of those days where its just kinda grey, mostly calm, and when the sun peaks out for a few seconds I just stare at it as if I'd never seen it before.

Have you ever just watched as people and cars pass by and wonder where they came from and where they're going? Yup, today is one of those days where so many thoughts consume me. I figure some things out and other things I get lost wondering about. Thoughts about love, communication, and people transform into thoughts about war, peace, and my country. I then start thinking about my own life and the people closest to me and how much they mean to me. After that my thoughts tend to wonder and then drift back to the cars going by. Which at that point I find myself studying their license plates trying to figure out which ones are undercover police.

"...thoughts turn into words, words become actions, actions form habits, habits turn into character, character reveals your destiny, and your destiny becomes your legacy."

Some people say words are powerful, and I would agree with them. However, I think the power starts even before that in a persons thoughts. If you've seen the movie Inception, even though its fictional, it tells a lot about a persons thoughts and thought process. I do believe that thoughts can be planted in someone's mind. It may be through something they see or hear or even with technology these days there are ways to remove thoughts and memory. I believe that thoughts turn into words, words become actions, actions form habits, habits turn into character, character reveals your destiny, and your destiny becomes your legacy.

All this to say, be careful what you let your thoughts dwell on, because they will determine who you will be in the coming years, and who people will see you as when you're no longer here.

Love you,
Jon

If Today Was Your Last Day

I often hear the phrase from different speakers, "What would you do today, if it was your last day?" I think its become a rather clique phrase and kind of overused. However, whenever I hear it I still ask myself, "What would I do." Often the songs, sermons, or poems written about this subject talk about taking it to the edge or in some ways creating a fantasy world of always living every second as if it were your last. These often translate into doing one magnificent thing one day and feeling really good about yourself and then returning back to the "daily grind." All that is fine and good but how many of us actually do or even can live like that?

I look at it more as living with purpose rather than letting life determine how you live. The "daily grind" so often takes over your life and you become controlled by your calendar, work, or even the opinions of others. The "daily grind" as we often put it shouldn't be looked at as a grind, but instead we can choose to make the most of each situation or choose to even be happy and look at the bright side.

There's another way of looking at it (which is my personal favorite). Do you have a dream? Do you have something that you desire to do with your life? Do you go to sleep at least one night a week thinking about one particular thing that you want so badly to do? This dream could be very large or extremely small, but to you its probably everything. Could it be something like, "I can't wait to be married", "I can't wait to be an adult", "I want a job so badly", "I just want a boyfriend", or "I want to change the world."

No one can fault you for your dream or tell you it sucks. Its your dream and the only person holding you back from making your dream reality, is you.

Let me put it this way, would you rather live with intent to do something, or always have to say sorry because you messed up again.

Love you,
Jon

TURN - 180

This 33 minute movie has an amazing story! I hope you take the time to watch.

How many of us need to take a 180 degree turn in our way of thinking? I was shocked after watching this movie... however, thats probably no surprise if you knew that I was home schooled haha ;)

PLEASE, please, please watch this! If you want more info check out the Facebook page here.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Input here...

Something Hannah and I have been thinking about recently is making videos of her playing violin/singing and posting them to youtube. I wanted to get your feedback to see if you had any ideas for what she should play?

Write a comment and let us know the following...

Genre:

Song Title:

Artist:

We created a youtube channel that you can go look at if you want. We haven't posted any videos yet but we will soon :) http://www.youtube.com/ourbohemianrhapsody

Hope to get your input!

Love you,

Jon & Hannah

Amazing what??

I know this is an oldish movie, but it is no less powerful because of its age. This movie tells a story of a very humble man who played a key role in the England Parliament which lead to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. William Wilberforce is someone I look up to with a ton of respect. He is a man who knew who he was, why he was created, and what he wanted. He dedicated his life to a cause which he was passionate about.

Wilberforce was well spoken and knew how to debate. He was a leader in his time, not because he was charismatic, but because he had a dream and he acted on it.

My favorite quote from the movie was spoken by Wilberforce's best friend William Pitt. He leaned across the table and looked Wilberforce in the eyes. "We're too young to realize that certain things are impossible, so we do them anyway."

If you haven't seen it, you should.
Love you,
Jon

I Do!

A little over a month ago Hannah and I invited guests, gathered at a church, and said our vows. I have to say that over the month that we planned our wedding, we weren't nervous or stressed. Though about a week before August 27th we started to get pretty anxious :) A huge thanks goes out to all those who helped with the arrangements etc. Special thanks to Karol Barkley for all the advice, thoughts, and devoted countless hours that she put into the preparations for our wedding. Thanks also to our wedding party and guests! It was so wonderful to be surrounded by individuals that we call family :) God brought so many people along side us that collectively helped to make our special day such a joy. Thank you!

Hannah is such a blessing to me in so many ways :) I love her so much!!

We will be posting more photos at a later time.

Love you,
Jon & Hannah

Camera, Lights, Action...

So something I enjoy doing on the side is producing films. I'm not that good at it yet but I do my best and I'm learning as I go. The point to this post is to show you a video that I just finished editing and is now on Youtube! I'm proud to say that I'm operating along side Paul Taylor as he works to promote his music. He has a gift and talent is singing and I'm helping him get his voice in front of an audience. That audience includes you :) So without further delay, please push play.

http://www.youtube.com/CanYouPaintWithAllTheColorsOfTheWind - Cover by Paul Taylor

Love you,
Jon and Hannah

That's right...another blog to follow.

Hello everyone, for all those who are interested, my wife Hannah and I will be posting stories, thoughts, theories, events, music, videos and photos etc. of what happens in our lives together. Please feel free to follow our posts by using the email option to the right of this post.

To start off, I'd like to tell you a little about us so you can have an idea of what's to come.

We are two individuals bound by an ever growing love for each other and our God. We are untraditional in every sense of the word unless there is a purpose for why said tradition should be conducted. We are going through hard times just like a lot of people these days, but interwoven with those times are also good times. We don't really keep track but I would say we have a pretty sweet life compared to some.

That's all for now but I will be posting again very soon!

Love you all,
Jon & Hannah