Our First Newsletter!!

Our goal in starting this newsletter is to invite y’all in deeper to see and hear about what’s actually happening in our lives behind what you see on social media. The plan is to send these out on the 1st of every month to catch up, reflect, and vision-cast for what’s to come!

Where We’ve Been

June kicked off with a backpacking trip to Havasupai down in the Grand Canyon. This has been on my personal bucket list since high school. But it seems like every year on February 1st, we would never be ready to pull the trigger when permits for the year went live. Then, after scoring some last-minute permits, we found ourselves quickly relisting them for sale due to Nina becoming really sick!! When they didn’t sell, we hesitantly began our 12-hour drive down to Arizona before having an incredible weekend in the Grand Canyon.

Since getting back from Havasupai, we’ve spent the month enjoying the beginning of summer in the mountains. June is easily our favorite month here in Jackson. We love how green the valley gets and seeing the wildflowers bloom while the mountain tops cling to their remaining snow. However, one thing we don’t love about June is the seasonal allergies and the return of the mosquitoes. Those are the only two reminders that this is not quite heaven on Earth (yet).

To end the month, we headed back “home” to California to celebrate a wedding, bridal shower, and family birthday. Even though we’ve lived in Wyoming for over 4 years now, a piece of us will always feel at home in Southern California. The opportunity to visit our family and friends back there is never taken for granted.

Where We’re Going

California trips will be a trend for us for the next few months. This was just the first of the 5 weddings this summer—all in California. We might get a little whiplash going back and forth, but it’s worth it for the family time and celebrating so many close friends.

Despite these trips, the goal this Summer is to slow down. This is a tall order considering that our jobs are based around travel. We want to be present where our feet are—in Jackson. We hope to get out on the water (on our new paddleboards!!), go for lots of hikes in the National Park with a few spontaneous road trips sprinkled in.

What We’re Learning

Something we don’t share about on our @jayxnina social media channels is our faith and how central it is to everything we do. We’re excited to use this section to let you in on what the Lord is doing in our lives. This month, we’ve found ourselves eager to plan our next steps. Whether it’s for work, family, or simply our dreams, it can be tempting to go ahead of God and stop asking what He wants us to do. We’ve felt challenged this month to trust the Lord with all of the things that we’d like to plan/control. Ranging from seemingly small lifestyle choices to where we live and what we do for work. This can be summed up as full surrender. May His Will—not ours, be done.

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

Proverbs 16:9

In Case You Missed It

Here is the full adventure from our once in a lifetime trip to Havasupai deep in the Grand Canyon. Grab a buddy and some popcorn—enjoy!