Mike & Sarah: an Intimate Atlanta, GA Wedding

This post is particularly near and dear to my heart... And for the first time ever, a post will feature at least 2 images of me stepping out from behind the camera. (Gasp!)

Over the past two years, Megan and I have adventured together all over Florida, New York, Southern California, Atlanta, Savannah and about a hundred stops in between. We love to travel and explore new cities - our love of food, design, and beautiful spaces mapping out each trip.

In March, Megan and I flew home to the U.S. for what was going to be a quick 3 week trip and dash between cities to see as many friends and family members as possible. Our quick trip ended, however, with an unexpected goodbye and parting ways in the Atlanta airport: me to Orlando and Megan back to our shared home in China. But more on that later... 

We made the long trip back for my sister's wedding. Sarah, my beloved Sally (a nickname that will forever lack much explanation other than our odd sense of humor - like my own: Klaudine), is just 2 years older than me. We grew up in the same small school and spent every waking moment together for much of our childhood. By choice or by force, we were best buds through and through. Separated from collecting many neighborhood friends by woods, fields, and living in the country, we stuck together and pestered each other endlessly. Sally was my protector. Although her fear of bears and the great dark outdoors much exceeded my own. In our early twenties, we moved to different cities and eventually to opposite sides of the globe. 

For years, she was the mischievous one; while my own sassy and outspoken self took a few years to develop in her wake. We're more different than alike... most days. But every once in a while, a mannerism or expression will pass through me and James will point it out as unmistakably Sally.

When Mike entered the picture, Sarah was living in Atlanta. Their love story began as a blind date and humorous email thread in which Mike became known for his mustache - a joke gone wrong (or at least we will continue to insist that's the truth every time that caterpillar creeps back above his lip). They wrote letters and fell in love slowly. Sarah is nothing if not careful and a ponderer. Meanwhile, we did what sisters do and pestered them for details and teased Mike endlessly. James and I took every opportunity to get to know Mike, but one thing was instantly clear... His sense of humor and earnest heart for the Lord was an unmistakable match for Sarah. 

Fast forward to the fall of 2014, when James and I began insisting that they hurry up and elope (with us present of course) so we could be there to witness their wedding day. They declined. (I can't get anyone to work within our life plans... sheesh!). Mike instead enlisted me for help finding the perfect ring. Their story continued to unfold while James and I adjusted to a new home in China, until finally the wedding day arrived...

I'll cut the sentiments short & proudly introduce to you, my glowing, stunning sister, Sarah, on her wedding day.

View the rest of our favorite images from Mike & Sarah's wedding in the gallery below...

Images by Megan Bielfelt.

A long-overdue update...

I thought I would write. 

I thought I would share our story and work out our life changing in front of you.

I so want to share our struggles, our ups and downs, our months of adjusting to life here in China. But most days... I'm empty. I've jotted down titles and topics over and over again. But when I sit down to write, I get a sentence out and start over. Or close the computer and move to the next project.

Here's the truth: There are beautiful miracles happening around us. And there is so much to share that we simply can't.

If you've followed me on instagram, you probably know some the triumphs we've celebrated and the seemingly huge roadblocks we've faced. We've been snowed-in in tropical towns, celebrated the wine aisle at our local Walmart, spent an amazing month with friends from home before having to say one last goodbye, jumped through hoops to obtain visas, travelled to Thailand for a stress-filled "vacation", planned and designed the interiors for a new local shop with friends, and started the long road to learning Chinese. We share what we can and we pray through the days.

I've cried more lately than I'd ever like to admit. This move has been hard. If I can drop the adventure talk for just a second and be completely real: being away from family, moving to a foreign city (even though we "know" and love it), and generally living every moment outside of your comfort zone is tough. We are being stretched and taken to our limits constantly. But He is breathing new life into us. He is teaching me what trust looks like, when all I want to do is run home and hide out for a couple of months/years.

So we press on. We breathe deeply when there is joy and reason to celebrate. We hope for the future and the relationships that are already sprouting up. 

For the Love of China pt. 4 | Today & the Future

You can read the beginning of our story here.

As I sit in my cozy little corner of the town we have grown to love (fight as I did, this city became near and dear to me) we are less than a month from moving back to China. 

In 2012, James and I moved to the Yunnan Province for 5 months to prepare for our team's arrival and the 4th tour of the region by his band, iU. (A small archive of some of the posts I wrote during that time are available here.) It stretched me and grew our marriage in unbelievable ways. We learned to trust and rely on one another. Life became suddenly and drastically different and I wouldn't change a moment of that time.

When we returned home in early 2013, I couldn't shake the longing to return. I had fallen in love. The hard times and adjustments were so outweighed by the unbelievable feeling of purpose that we experienced serving our friends in China. We returned to a community that was experiencing authentic and selfless love for one another. Amazing things were stirring at home and we felt called to stay for a while and settle into life again. Our adopted cousin, Luke, arrived in June of that year. James' language study became a part of his daily routine as he joined in the effort to welcome Luke to a new life with a forever family. Meanwhile, I opened a studio space in our tiny historic downtown and studied to become a yoga instructor. We moved, started new businesses, welcomed new friends and a Chinese exchange student into our life, and fell into a beautiful rhythm surrounded by friends and family. 

I don't want to say something was missing, because that would be an embellishment. Life has been so full and fulfilling. We have learned, taught, grown and served here. The desire to move back was always there, so we waited and rooted down into our community.

About a year ago, we finally felt released to pursue that desire again. We had a timeline, a city to return to, and a vision for what might be ahead. I wrote this recently for the iU website, and it sums up the month or so ahead:

In the winter of 2014, iU will return to foster and renew friendships in cities along the southern Chinese border through a performance that seeks to bring hope to the individual's heart. iU's plans include performances for audiences in 8 cities - from elementary to high school students, local music venues to university campuses, and remote village communities - with performances spread across the Yunnan province.

The performance will be a combination of original music written by iU and Chinese originals, with over 80% of the performance delivered in Mandarin. Through long-established relationships with school leaders and local officials, iU is returning to build and encourage relationships among new & old friends of Inter-United Foundation.

...Following the 2014 tour, iU artists' James Powell (& wife, Kate) and Preston and Heidi Moreau will stay to continue to pour into the friendships established during this & previous visits. They will be available for hire while living in Wenshan in the southern Yunnan Province.  

Megan has also recently decided to stay and root down into language study while working to develop Raggamuffin's Ragga'China partnership.

Megan and I are in the beginning stages of starting a narrative photography project called the Sojourn Project. We hope to authentically document the months ahead - the challenges and joys of moving across the world. While we are moving away from family and from a language and culture we know, there is much to be excited about.

There is vision, purpose, and open ended ellipses at the end of every "what if..." There are orphans to advocate for, friendships to return to, and dreams to unfold. There is anticipation for the joy found when finding and loving the least. As the next few months unfold, we are grateful to our community for loving us enough to send us out.

I am so thankful for those reading this for joining in our story. We hope, above all else, that you will be encouraged and awakened by our small step towards living openly.

On to the moments ahead...

"Adventures in Stovetop Baking" - Join me in the Kitchen

I (Kate) recently developed a new blog & began writing for a long-time client that makes beautiful, stainless steel cookware.

We love 360 Cookware & I use it daily in my own kitchen. It is SO easy to stand behind a product that is made in America, guaranteed by a lifetime warranty, and has proven health benefits.

I am hardly a great cook or anything special in the kitchen, but I am a foodie at heart. I love to expiriment & fell in love with food photography a few years ago while shooting the 360 Vapor Cooks Better Cookbook. During my little love affair with food photography, I discovered that a love of cooking comes in handy with a new husband and a house constantly full of friends and family. We love to host, so cooking has become a natural expression of how we love on our friends.

My posts on the 360 Kitchen & Blog reflect my passion for healthy cooking, beautiful ingredients, and tasty foods from around the world. I provide tips for tailoring meals to 360’s Vapor method, healthy (& occasionally… totally indulgent!) recipes, and step-by-step how to’s for foodies & newbies alike (because, let’s face it… I’m still a newbie myself!).

So… let’s start with an indulgent recipe, friends!

Click to read my recent post: Adventures in Stovetop Baking

Back to Blogging

It’s been well over a year since James and I moved back to Central Florida. After 4 months in China, we returned to the U.S. and settled into another season of changes and new adventures together.

When we got back, I was determined to “take a year off” of photography and focus on my education and freelance clients. We got home on January 6th. Three days later, I was sitting at a client meeting booking my first wedding for the year. The beautiful thing about this ever-changing life is that it’s, well, changing. I am so glad my plans were derailed by that first client meeting. This has been an amazing year of personal growth – from learning new ways to run my business and the development of my artistic style to a renewed perspective on what I love and the work I hope to produce. This year “off” has probably been one of the fullest and most fulfilling years yet.

With incredible brevity, I will attempt to cover the past year of our life…

The Last Year (& Some Change) in Review:

• Resolved to “take the year off” & failed miserably
• Returned to UCF to continue my Bachelors in English for Technical Writing (forever “in-progress”)
• Watched our best friends get engaged, while secretly creeping and taking photos in the bushes
• iU continued to lead a monthly, outdoor worship night that still amazes me every time we gather
• Started experimenting with film again and fell in love (all over again)
• Celebrated some truly memorable birthdays throughout the year with parties that qualify as “extravaganzas”

• Discovered my mother’s love for antiques and rejuvenation is genetic
• Spent as much time with this cupcake as I could
• Stumbled across an ad for an artist’s space in our town and fell in love with the idea of renovating it & make it our own
• Played “Maid of Honor” at my beautiful sister-in-law’s wedding (& danced the literal night away)
• Saw Luke (Li Jun Jie) meet his siblings, experience American soil, and begin his incredible journey through adoption and learning English
• Signed a lease & began renovations on our amazing little studio in Mount Dora

• Spent James’ birthday weekend with a nasty busted lip and mumbler for a husband thanks to a new skateboard
• Finished renovations and opened the RaggaYoga / kate&co. studio
• Made our tiny house a little more home-y and welcomed more people than we can remember through our doors
• Fell in love with cooking all over again (made macaroons, homemade marshmallows, and enough Spoon Fork Bacon recipes to be considered a stalker)
• Welcomed a new friend and sister from Mengzi for a year of studying abroad
• Carved my first pumpkin

• Decided to move back to China for an indefinite amount of time & began learning Chinese
• Travelled to the Capitol 3 times and fell in love with a new city
• Watched one of James’ lifelong dreams come true as he recorded iU’s first music video
• Ripped our house apart for a few days while Megan and I took on the 1st lifestyle photo shoot for 360 Cookware
• Had a ridiculously good time with friends on a road trip and weekend away serving at a youth camp
• And finally, we celebrated our 2 year anniversary with a “better late than never” day away at the beach.

While the last year has been amazing in so many new and beautiful ways, I cannot begin to put it all into words. (Thank you Instagram!) However, as we begin to make plans for our return trip to Asia this summer and our move in the fall, I have felt the pulled back to writing: to telling our story and sharing the amazing work God keeps doing in us through narrative photography and blogging; to sharing the gifts, education, and tools I’ve been given; to welcoming new friends into our life as I continue on this journey as a follower of Jesus, freelance artist, photographer, self-employed expat, yoga instructor, writer, blogger, wife, and friend. I would love for you to join me and share your story along the way!

Cheers to a new journey!