Cuenca, Ecuador

Cuenca, Ecuador was the first stop on our foray into South America. And it was a perfect way to acclimate to the country. Cuenca, known for it's natural beauty (4 rivers run through town!), architectural history, and cleanliness, welcomed us with open arms. To begin, perfect strangers opened up their homes and their hearts to us when we arrived {which I will be sharing more about in another post!}. But today, I hope my pictures can convey to you what a treasure this little town truly is.

Cuenca, like many town in South America, was colonized by the Spanish and more recently was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like many colonial designs, a central park {Park Abdon Calderon} is the heart of the city. Around Parque Calderon is the Cathedral, which is one of the main attractions, and various markets which we enjoyed perusing. Our favorite part of Cuenca was just meandering the cobblestone streets and "getting lost". It's a relatively small town so our little legs took us just about everywhere in the historic district! At night it is absolutely magical. We also found a taxi to take us up to Turi, a vantage point of the whole city. The view was just lovely. 

Cuenca's parks are just phenomenal. Because there are 4 rivers running through town, there is a lot of green space, and we enjoyed walking the river trails, and taking advantage of the park. One of the city parks even had a zip-line that Kevin fully enjoyed:) {And as a random side note, there is a HUGE community of retired people from the US and Europe that move to Cuenca, because it is affordable, gorgeous, and really clean!} 

One of the amazing parts about being in Cuenca, and Ecuador in general, is the value they place on family. Everywhere we went we saw grandkids helping their grandparents walk along the street, families out together having dinner, and no one playing on their cell phone. It was so evident that families were present with one another, just enjoying each other's company. Very refreshing if you ask me! 

Also... if you are Cuenca, do yourself a favor and stay at La Posada Cuencana. We LOVED this hotel! We booked it last minute, and it ended up being a highlight on our trip. It is in a perfect part of town, walking distance from everything and is housed in a colonial building, with the typical courtyard in middle. I didn't want to leave. It also helped that we got to know the owners and they are a lovely couple! An amazing breakfast is also included. You can see the pictures of the breathtaking building at the bottom of this post! 

Cuenca, while not huge, is a gorgeous example of Ecuadorian architecture, hospitality, slow-pace of living, and kindness. We are so glad we didn't leave this off our itinerary! Enjoy the pictures!

2014- A Year in Review!

With being in South America, I kind of feel like I missed the changing of the new year! So, in light of that, now 2 weeks later, I wanted to do a quick recap post of the brilliant year we had in 2014. It was a very different year for us…a transition year of sorts, but I'm no less grateful for it. It was  a beautiful, life changing, as well as growing and challenging year for us. Here's some of the highlights:

January & February

January started off being "wonder-filled" as Kevin and I started new things. I went back to school to get my MFT, and watched as God bathed us in so many blessings regarding this new chapter. You can read about it here.  February I wrote about "Love in the Light"… a little ode to Valentines day, but a tribute to allowing your relationships to thrive by choosing transparency and honesty, despite our human nature to keep things in the dark. You can read it here. 

March

March was a bit of a watershed month for me….for starters, I turned 30! I wrote all about the things I learned in my 20's (You can read that reflection here.  )…trust me, I learned a lot of things the hard way haha! To commemorate my birthday, my friend Chelsea and I hosted an EPIC Downton Abbey party…ohhh it was so fun! We learned the Charleston, did some 1920's trivia, drank cocktails called "The Lady Mary" and danced the night away! You can see all the pictures here. 

April

April was a delightful month! Kevin surprised me with a birthday trip to Seattle, where we toured the city and got to stay with dear friends! You can see more photos here! I also wrote about 5 things you can do in the next hour to fight human trafficking (here), and the things I've been learning lately (here). 

May

May was just plain FUN! Our life group went on a retreat to Mexico (pictures here), and took turns sharing our dreams (my dreams here)! I went on a spa retreat weekend in Santa Barbara with my mom, sisters, aunts and cousin, and then left for Turkey & Greece! 

June

June brought some incredible "highs" and mined the depths of the "lows". The highs included our trip to Turkey and Greece! It was unbelievable! You can see an overview here. When we got back from our trip, Kevin suffered a full-blown heart attack, and was rushed into surgery. Those were some of the scariest moments of my life. To read more about Kevin's heart attack and healing, click here. 

July

July provided the rest I needed after a crazy summer session at school, compounded by Kevin's heart attack. My family spent a refreshing week in Yosemite at a reunion with all of our family from Sweden! Talk about lots of laughter!! We had a Swedish/American auction, sang Americana songs, and hiked the gorgeous Yosemite valley! You can see pictures here. 

August

Half the month of August I was recovering from surgery, so I wrote a lot of travel related posts! You can read about "What to Wear when you Travel" as well as "How to Culturally Enhance your Travel"! I also shared some of my favorite foreign films and TV shows here. 

September

September was a surprising month for me! For starters, my brother happened to call me up and ask if I wanted to drive 12 hours into the middle of Mexico with him and my sisters the following week. The purpose of the trip was to volunteer with some doctors to do a hike in through the mountains to work with a very remote people group called the Tarahumara. I said YES! It was literally a life-changing, crazy colorful experience! You can see the pictures and read the story here.  I also was introduced to an incredible organization doing amazing work in Northern Pakistan…called Shining Light International! SLI reaches out to some of the most remote people with education and life skills trainings! What I love about them is that they have a desire to educate women, in a country that has the 2nd highest rate of women out of schools! You can read more about them here! 

October

October ushered in some new adventures! Kevin and I took off to explore the hills of Malibu on a camping trip (here), and I started sharing my yard sale finds here! I also shared how to "Thrive in the Waiting Season" which is where I feel like we are at! Lastly, I spent some time sharing about how every year Kevin and I pray for something specific in our marriage! This year, God answered so beautifully (here). 

November

November was all about Autumn!! I marveled at the beautiful Fall leaves of Northern California here, and showed some pictures from our Thanksgiving cruise in both Catalina Island and Ensenada! I capped off the month by sharing a vulnerable post on judging others {here} as well as our SE Asia travel itinerary through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam here! 

December

December was the first bit of winter we'd gotten all year! I shared our room decorated in all it's Christmas glory {here} and the stories behind each of my room decor pieces here! I also showcased the cozy atmosphere we celebrated Christmas in this year at my parents house {here} 

Well, cheers to a great year! I'm looking forward now to 2015, and am praying into all that God has in store for us. I'm so grateful we can entrust God with our lives…He knows what's going to happen, and therefore He knows what is best!! My word for 2015 is "RELY"…it comes from the verse in 1 John 4:16 that says, "And so we know and rely on the LOVE God has for us"!! Isn't that glorious, that we can rely on Jesus because His love for us is SO strong! Amen and Amen!! 

Happy Weekend lovelies!! 

We're back from South America! {and a sponsorship opportunity!}

Well, we've made it back from South America. It literally felt so good to take a hot shower and sleep in my own bed. Even though traveling is in my blood, there is nothing like coming back to a familiar place filled with faces you know and love.

Our trip was incredibly amazing on so many levels! We connected with some of the most warm and inspiring people who showed us hospitality beyond measure. We jumped off bridges and zip lined and swung on a tree that dangled our feet over a thousand foot cliff. We soaked in thermal baths and got massages. We volunteered with an incredible organization. We sat on a beach and read and swam in the ocean. 

I can't wait to share with you each step of our journey from Ecuador to Columbia! I've missed you sweet readers and am excited to hop back on this blogging train! 

I hope your 2015 is shaping up to be your best year yet!! I have a whole bunch of exciting posts and pictures planned for this year, so I hope you'll stick along for the ride!

Also, I wanted to let you know that I am offering sponsorship {a Large Ad} on my blog for $15 a month, or $35 for 3 months! If one of your new years goals is to grow your blog, this might be a great opportunity for you to partner with Hope Engaged. Just as reminder, all sponsorship money from my blog goes to support the aftercare home that Kevin and I worked at in Nepal! So…really, just think of your sponsorship as a donation to an amazing organization that houses girls rescued out of sex trafficking and other tragic situations. Email me at hopeengaged@gmail.com if you are interested!!

Happy day friends!