This is a blog to share our thoughts about our newest adventure… parenthood. Let’s be honest – it’s terrifying, exciting, and nerve wrecking all at the same time!

Here’s a recap of our story so far:

• We met in June 2008 at Alpine Bible Camp in West Virginia. Brice had brought high school students from East Somerset Baptist Church to the camp where I was serving as a camp counselor for the summer.
• On our first date, Brice took me to Beauty Mountain which had an AMAZING view of the New River. There, while I was sitting on a rock with my short brown hair blowing in the wind with the sun illuminating me- as Brice says “just right”, Brice began pacing back and forth. He’d look at me, then away, put his hands on his head, then look back at me and continue pacing. I asked, “Hey, are you ok?” Brice said, “No, I’m not, but I can’t tell you why.” After some urging and assuring Brice that he could say whatever it was that was bothering him without freaking me out, he said “Beka, I’m going to marry you. I don’t know how I know, but I just know, I’m going to marry you!” Needless to say, I was speechless.
• Camp ended in August 2008 and I went back to school in South Carolina, while Brice was still living in Kentucky. For the entire fall semester, I’d leave SC at noon on Fridays (right after my last class), drive to KY and spend the weekend with Brice until I had to go back to school Sunday night. From September to mid-December, I spent all but 2 weekends in Kentucky and it was the best decision I had ever made. I learned to rock climb, wake board, hike, backpack, the meaning of Friday night football in a small town, and gained an even broader love for the outdoors.
• We got engaged in December 2008. We’d known each other for 6 months, but that was all the time we needed.
• We were married May 30, 2009. On our wedding day, we had only known each other for 358 days. One week shy of a year. I was 20 and Brice was 23. We were just two young kids who had made the decision to love each other, no matter what, for the rest of our lives.
• Over the next 3 years, we lived in Somerset, Kentucky. We bought an adorable house from Brice’s sister in Downtown Somerset – complete with a white picket fence and everything! I got an associates degree at Somerset Community College, then got my bachelors degree at Eastern Kentucky University (45 mins away from Somerset). Brice started his own commercial photography business – Brice Burton Imaging.
• The first 3 years of marriage were hard, really hard. We both worked all the time and had the stress of going to school while working and running our own business. We felt like we were missing something and struggled to pinpoint it. In January 2012, we took a trip to Washington to visit some friends who had moved out in 2010 to start a church. While sitting in a Seattle Brewery enjoying the cloudy, rainy weather and conversation – I realized what had been missing for me. Growing up in a christian home, church, and school I knew a lot about God, but fought against truly believing in him. So there, at Pike’s Market I cried my eyes out and said I was tired of fighting to do my own thing. The Holy Spirit had softened my heart and helped me come to a place where I could really know God, in all aspects of the truth. It was an amazing experience to share with Brice and discuss together.
• We decided to move to Tacoma, Washington in June 2012 after I graduated college. We wanted to climb mountains and help plant a church different than what we were a part of in KY. We helped start Church on the Sound – a family of people learning together what it means to live both BY and FOR THE GOSPEL in the city of Tacoma. We scatter throughout the week as missionaries to serve our neighborhoods through Missional Communities and gather together on Sundays to celebrate what Christ has done and is doing in our lives and our city.
• The move was one of the best things we could have done for our marriage. We’ve grown to rely on one another, grow in the Spirit, and have a genuine heart for people not because we’re awesome, but because we serve a God that is awesome and amazing. We moved without jobs or a home, and stayed with friends for a month before God provided jobs and a home for us. We learned an incredible lesson on relying on the Ultimate Provider to meet all of our needs.

• Our adventure list began on May 30, 2009
  • Marriage
  • Buying a house
  • Working for family
  • Starting a business
  • Graduating college
  • Moving across the country from KY to WA – 2012
    • On the 2 week trip out west we saw the St. Louis Arch, camped more times than we stayed in a hotel, saw the corn palace, rock climbed on the back side of Mt. Rushmore, mountaineered in Yellowstone, smelled the Grand Prismatic Spring, saw Old Faithful be not-so-faithful, got a ticket in a flatland state, ate bologna sandwiches for days out of a cooler on the back seat, enjoyed a “little dog rodeo”, celebrated my birthday in Fort Collins, Colorado, summited the second highest peak in the lower 48 states – Mt. Elbert in Colorado, drove through a hail storm, and got our first glimpse of Mt. Rainier all with our pooch, Sharma, in tow.
  • Found jobs and an apartment within a month of moving to WA
  • Exploring the incredible Pacific Northwest (PNW)
  • Planting a church
  • Rock climbing at Vantage
  • Summited South Early Winter Spire – our first mixed route
  • Climbed St. Helens in the winter
  • Summited Mt. Rainier together July 21, 2014 as a two man team **Hands down our craziest adventure together, in my opinion**
  • Summited Mt. Adams
  • Went to more Tacoma Rainier’s baseball games than you can count
  • Brought the Kentucky Derby to the PNW
  • Cycling
  • Snowboarding
  • Tried backcountry skiing – it sucks
  • Alpine climbing
  • Paddle Boarding

We’ve been married for 7 1/2 years now and Brice & I have been on sooo many adventures together. Now it’s on to our next, and quite possibly our biggest adventure yet – parenthood!

– Beka