This is Us.

We are the Rens. Newlyweds, soon-to-be-parents, getting our feet back on the ground after 3 years spent studying in Aussieland. If there is anyone who has learned that life often times throws you some pretty crazy curveballs, it's us!

Let's start at the beginning.

Travis and I met in Aussieland, the land of the hot hot sun. It was at an international college and he was the first one I met who was also from Seattle. Can anyone say immediate kindred spirits? Well, it didn't start out that way (he had a girlfriend, regardless of how dastardly handsome I thought he was). Still, our friendship started there almost four years ago. Within the events of a single year, we went from friends, to better friends, to dating. The following year followed suit with a six month engagement and then a wedding! Some might think we fast-tracked things a little bit. If you know us, that was definitely not the case!

Our wedding is a whole 'nother story full of excitement, craziness, beautiful moments, incredible blessing and the best day of our lives.

After our wedding, which happened in my parents absolutely GORGEOUS backyard, it was back to Australia for what we planned to be another 2-3 years. We were so excited to go back, our entire lives as a couple was established in Australia with our newly-made friends and family there. We had great jobs, a great car and an absolutely amazing place to live!

This past January, we felt like it was time to come home... out of the blue. There were no plans to come home! None! Why did we feel God calling us to come home? We didn't know, but after prayer and seeking counsel from the people who had input into our lives, we were certain.

Sure enough, we buy our plane tickets, we begin our preparations... one week before we left... a little goodbye present for us!!!

(Photo taken in April at 13 weeks)

I won't lie, the first day when I found out was probably one of the hardest days of my life. This was not in the plan. I had applied for colleges! Already in a position where we were going in a direction that we didn't understand, this added to the mystery.

Travis on the other hand, handled it like a real husband, which completely blew me away and was probably what got me through day 1. [By the way, he is a real husband, he was just the one who wanted to wait to have kids for longer than I did. In the end, he just embraced it when he found out it was a reality]. Travs' incredible support and dedication in those first few days and weeks was unbelievable.

Now we are where we are. Arriving home this last March we spent 3 months looking for work until Travis finally found a summer job! Can anyone say complete 180? Going from cushy life in Aussieland, to penny-pinchers in our own country, expecting a baby and still fighting to get settled!

If you were to ask me where I could see myself in the next few years 3-4 years ago... I would've told you I didn't even have any plans to get married! All I wanted was to study and figure out what I was going to do with my life! It's mind-blowing how the things you might plan for your own life are irrelevant when it comes to the things of God. I've also noticed that, in our little family at least, God really enjoys putting us in completely unheard of situations.

Those of you who know Travis and myself, you know we are responsible, plan-ahead type of people. So this whole last year really threw us for a loop. However... WOW, what an adventure! We have to admit we have our moments where we can't help asking "are we doing something wrong?!" or we feel a little lost... but in the end, God always pulls through. It's been and still is an incredible faith-building journey. This is just our little collection of adventures and mis-adventures to share with family and friends who now reach to the edges of the globe! Our hope in sharing all our little adventures with you is that you find some comfort, humor, encouragement or even just diversion in all the things that we go through!

We are the furthest form perfect - starting out couple; but we look to the future with excitement and trust that God has a plan. We've submitted ourselves to him and anticipate what He has next in store! Maybe we aren't a have-it-all-together couple, but we have each other, and this is us.

"God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you recieved from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike 'What's next, Papa?' God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going ot get whats coming to us--an unbelievable inheritance!"

Romans 8:15-17 [MSG]