dripping with passion

when the boy first suggested we go take a trip to the holy land over the easter holidays, i was hesitant. that reaction definitely seems weird, because i have a deep, deep love for that part of the world and had held a fervent dream of returning there with my husband for nearly a decade (after living in jerusalem for a few months as a student). but traveling to the holy land is daunting -- the logistics of getting around a very politically charged and foreign place coupled with a desire to experience a very spiritually and historically meaningful place in the best way possible is overwhelming! i tried to convince the boy that it would be better to go with a group of people we loved and a guide we trusted, some year in the future. but he was sure that we could figure everything out and have a really great time exploring on our own, and he eventually convinced me.  and he was right. we had a really, really, really fantastic, multi-faceted, beautiful adventure. i think every travel

when i was a teenager, i got really into making "happy things" lists. i'd jot down random little joys from everyday life and loved looking back on them, especially when i was feeling a bit less-than-glad. i've continued listing happy things throughout the years at random times, and it always helps me to remember how much beauty is around me and how much there is to be grateful for. i was a tad grumpy this morning because i'm so ready to be done with cold weather (which seems to have returned with a vengeance this week in london!) and because i have had a series of third-trimester-induced terrible night's sleep. but i jotted down a few random, small tidbits of life that were making me happy and immediately found a bounce in my step. i remembered how outrageously privileged and blessed i am and had a productive day. i have a pile of draft blog posts in the works (holy land travel tips, thoughts on pregnancy and my transition into motherhood, a giveaway for

last week, my mom and dad came to visit us! it was so so so wonderful to have them around and we had some pretty awesome london adventures together. (<—aren’t they just the absolute cutest, with their fish n chips?!) since their flight here was free (after a fiasco with norweigan airlines last time they came over…) and since my mom’s birthday was coming up, dad suggested we do some fancy things to celebrate the forthcoming birth of baby boy wright and the blessed birth of his grammie! so we went to not one but two super posh afternoon teas and not one but two musicals. what a treat! we also enjoyed some other fun london excursions (even though the glorious springy weather had given way to a chill and some rain). but the best part of linda + rick’s visit was just being together, showing them around our life, and having great conversations. i love my mom and dad so very, very much! just after mom and dad arrived in london, i met up with them at the ritz on picadilly – which

to top off our holy land trip, we crossed the border from israel into jordan and spent two days at petra, one of the true wonders of the world. petra is just dang cool. i loved exploring there nine years ago and i loved exploring there with ian. it is just incredible to think of the civilization that thrived in this beautiful, unique place so many, many years ago and to take in the (mostly amazingly well-preserved) ruins, carved right out of the technicolor earth. we had fantastic weather, enjoyed several spectacular hikes, were mesmerized by the magic of the hundreds of candles at “petra by night,” stayed overnight at the most fantastic bedouin camp, scrambled among ancient history, met new friends from all over the world, and were amused by the ubiquitous camels :) some (okay, a lot of) photos from our petra adventures after the jump…

{i’m trying to cram all the pictures i can into each post so i don’t go on and on and on about our time in the holy land(although i kind of want to because it was so so so awesome!). so today here’s a bunch of photos from the judean wilderness down to the red sea, and tomorrow i’ll post photos from our two days in petra! then, it’s back to london :) buuuut, before all the pictures – i want to share another gojanegive page! my sister saydi is fundraising for refugee aid by conducting portrait photography sessions in boston, new york city, london, and salt lake city over the next few months. saydi is a talented, sought-after family photographer and captures stunning images - this is a huge bargain and  an opprortunity to donate to a very worthy cause. check out her gojanegive page and sign up for a photo shoot! if you don't live near one of those four locations, you can still donate any amount to receive saydi's top ten tips for taking fantastic portraits.  aaaaand….we’re bac

{before you scroll through the masses of pictures in this post (i know, i need to get better at narrowing down!!) check out gojanegive – the awesomest new platform for doing good in this wild world. gojanegive makes it easy for anyone to raise money to support fantastic charities by doing something they love and/or do already as part of their everyday life. my friend meg is using gojanegive to sell homemade, organic baby food and all proceeds go to refugee aid – check out her gojanegive page and order some! i’m scheming up my own gojanegive project and am so excited to share it in the coming weeks!} aaaaaand…back to jerusalem…   we had three must-dos for our last day in jerusalem: 1. go on top of the temple mount and see the dome of the rock 2. visit mahane yehuda market in west jerusalem 3. spend at least a couple of hours wandering around the old city we accomplished all three, and had some adventures/misadventures along the way. the weather was crazy this day and we got cau

on easter morning, we woke up super early to go to the garden tomb for the sunrise service there. we walked through the dark streets of jerusalem before dawn, bubbling up with easter joy. we queued with many other believers at the entrance, thinking about the greatest miracle of all time. and as soon as we entered the grounds of the tomb, we were hit with a wave of faith and happiness that built over the next hour or so as we worshipped among the jubilant crowd under flowering trees and a gradually brightening sky. i count my experience at the garden tomb on easter morning 2007 as one of the very, very best experiences of my life. i had really built the sunrise service up in telling ian about it – but he heartily agreed that it – was – so – awesome …   and he counts our experience at the garden tomb on easter morning 2016 as one of the very, very best experiences of his life. it’s hard to explain the feeling there. it’s so so so so so so wonderful. the service was very different th