The Introduction

It's sort of an inside joke.  Not one of those inside jokes that you know is coming and you all wish it could just be put to rest, but rather one of those jokes that you absolutely know is coming and you still can't help but smirk even before someone says it.

"But what if...?"  That's it.  Okay, it's not very funny.  This tiny three word phrase has lead me into more poor decisions than I would care to admit.  "But WHAT IF we put the m&ms inside the chocolate cake and THEN cover it in peanut butter?"  "But, hear me out, what if we just hike the 10 miles on the second day to get it out of the way and only have three left on the last day?" "But WHAT IF we just go get coffee and talk about class rather than actually going today?"

 Yet, those same three words have also lead me on my life's most grand adventures.   "But WHAT IF we also saw Switzerland and Italy and not just Paris & London?"  "But what if I don't do medicine and become a music teacher instead?" "But what if we find a way to drive through the night and then summited Mt. Leconte in the morning? "  "But what if I did the WHOLE marathon and not the half?" "But what if I actually surrendered all of my heart to the one who created me and just walk blindly in step with Him?"  

These questions have made me, for better or worse, the mid-twenties adventure seeking, Jesus loving, musician that I am today.


At the age of 16 my parents supported me to be able to take a trip to the Aussieland.  I left American soil for the first time.  Though I am a fairly extroverted individual I had butterflies galore when the plane left the Tulsa airport.  I had no idea how changed I would be when my feet returned to the American earth.  What my teenage eyes would see could not be unseen.  I saw a land, a way of life, an accent that were all foreign to me, yet...they were all home to someone else.  I saw that my Jesus was still Jesus here, but that I needed to ask myself what was truth and what was my culture that I had projected on Him.  This perspective shift flipped some switch inside that sprung up with curiosity.  I knew I needed to see this world through the eyes of others.  I needed to be the foreigner more often, so that I could evaluate what was true.  

Coming home rather than feeling more cultured, I felt like my personal world was so small.  I needed to know more, to understand more, to see more.  It took 7 years for me to leave American soil again, but that next time was once again life-altering.  My friend, Jennie, and I loaded up our packs (with waaay too much stuff...like WAYYY too much stuff) and flew over to Europe to visit that land for 5 weeks.  Once again I felt my tunnel vision of the world slowly being widened.  I could begin to look at things from others perspectives and my heart was faced with new ideas and challenges to wrestle with inside.  I loved it.  The need for traveling has never stopped.  

The past couple of years I have been working more on seeing America.  I mean, it still is in my heart the "land of the free and the home of the brave."  #murica   I can't think of a better time for me to start a blog about my upcoming American adventures than 3 days before my nation's birthday, and I also cannot think of a better location to start than my nation's capital.  So, get ready Underwoods (oops! I mean Obamas) tomorrow at 5:35pm the adventure continues! 

A few notes to readers:  

1. You do not have to travel to gain perspective; people, books, art, victories and hardships do all that just as well.  
2. This is not a soul that has searched the world and become a universalist, it's still Jesus. Always will be Jesus.  
3. I will give advice in future posts, not that you will always want to take it. 


Carry on!  








Thanks to https://www.peopletopeople.com for providing me with the opportunity to uncover a passion of travel and understanding culture as a high school student.